Rideaux Zek Rugievit

Rideaux Zek Rugievit
Information
Appearance	Tales of Xillia 2
Age	29
Height	182 cm
Race	Human
Occupation	Medical agent and DODA Director of Spirius Corporation
Weapon	Surgical knives
Japanese Voice Actor	Kouji Yusa
Character Designer	Daigo Okumura

Rideaux Zek Rugievit (リドウ・ゼク・ルギエヴィート, Ridou Zeku Rugieviito^?) is a minor antagonist in Tales of Xillia 2. After the incident on Ludger Will Kresnik's first day of work at the Trigleph train station cafeteria, Rideaux puts him in a great debt of 20 million Gald. Rideaux is promoted from Vice-Director to Director of the Department of Dimensional Affairs after Julius is framed as a terrorist and forced to flee, making him Ludger's direct boss.

History

Rideaux was born, like all Chromatus bearers, with a watch. His watch is made of platinium and his family, part of a collateral line of the Kresnik clan, didn't know what it was. Rideaux does not have infantile amnesia.

Born from a poor family of the Kresnik clan, Rideaux was born with an incurable disease and was a very sick child. He eventually underwent life-saving surgery with medical spyrixes by Derrick Mathis, who implanted them in his body when he was only six years old. Though this saved Rideaux from a sure death, his family was saddled by medical debt and torn apart. Derrick Mathis was unaware of the huge bill that followed his operation, presumably because he became stranded in Rieze Maxia.

Rideaux spent the next six years as part of the crime underworld, and was struggling to make meets end when he met Bisley by chance at twelve. He was then taken into Spirius Corporation by Bisley, who sought Rideaux's Chromatus abilities, meanwhile the young teenager Rideaux sought wealth. He also met Julius that same year.

When Rideaux learned of Origin's Trial, he realized that Bisley intended to eventually use him as a soul bridge sacrifice. He told Julius about it too. Wanting to avoid his fate as a soul bridge sacrifice, Rideaux spent the next years trying to prove himself. It was around this time that Rideaux and Julius used to go on horrible rampages to see who could destroy more dimensions, and sometimes they slaughtered whole towns.

This survival is also Rideaux's motivation behind the capture of the fugitive Julius, and also why he kills the fractured Milla, during Tales of Xillia 2. After Chapter 11, one person mentions that, according to the captured officials, the summoning arte equations were set by Exodus, yet those are confidential property of Spirius. Of course, those who plotted the terrorist attack were all killed by Rideaux, so nothing can be proven. This tie of Rideaux's to Exodus is a vestige from back when Spirius endorsed the Otherworld Reactor Plan.

At some point, Rideaux modifies the aspyrixis on his own to power himself up and improve his physical abilities, despite the strain that this will cause in his body, making his strength and acuity twice of a normal man. After his defeat during Chapter 14, and if the player completed Gaius' character episodes, a bonus scene presents Ludger with two options. Choosing "Wait. That man saved my life" makes Rideaux confirm that he saved Ludger under Bisley's orders, presumably to aid on the blackmail that'd force Ludger to work for Spirius. Rideaux provokes Ludger, saying that "it must've been a real drag paying off that massive loan", and mocks him for "being happy to play along" before Gaius punches him.

The aspyrixes that once saved Rideaux's life also become his downfall in Chapter 14. After the group leaves the underground training area upon defeating him, a couple of Spirius agents appear looking for Rideaux under Bisley's orders. Knowing that Bisley intends to turn him into an unwilling soulbridge sacrifice, Rideaux transforms with the intention of fighting the agents for his life. Spirius, however, actually knew the control codes for Rideaux's spyrix organs, and so the agents use them to neutralize Rideaux and drag him to Bisley.

Rideaux's past, as someone with a difficult childhood who was struggling just to eat before Bisley took him under his wing, isn't a secret among Spirius employees. Rideaux's impressive track record, and his excellent use of aspyrixis, raise suspicions among them regarding his high skill level, due to how much Rideaux has done versus how old he really is. A Julius groupie even investigates and finds out that there's no sign that Rideaux himself developed the theories of aspyrixis from scratch, wondering if that means that he uses technology that already exists, and what technology could that be. This is actually because Rideaux has been stealing them from fractured dimensions.

Appearance and Personality

Rideaux has long black hair with fringe, two long bangs with white tips at the sides of his face, and amber eyes. He wears a yellow shirt with a black vest over it, and his neck is tied with a purple scarf. His attire consists of red pants, a red jacket with black stripes, and red gloves. This look is completed with a black and purple fluffy scarf, as well as white and brown shoes.

Rideaux hides an abnormal obsession with money and fame, which he developed as a result of his poor upbringing. Ludger is also not the only one who's not particularly thrilled to have Rideaux as his boss. There's a Spirius employee that's in charge of managing each agent's schedules and tasks that will often complain about how difficult it is to manage Rideaux's. A different employee laments that Rideaux is now in the director position because he's currently running him into the ground ("he's being a slave-driver" in the Japanese version). Rideaux also steps over Ivar at one point, in the literal sense of the word. Aware of the reputation that he carries, Rideaux is actually prepared with his knives easy to reach for self-defense in case of emergency.

Ironically, much like Rideaux and Julius share an animosity, so do the members of their respective fan clubs that often hang out in front of the Spirius HQ building.

Fighting Style

Cut-in image for Tales of Xillia 2.

Rideaux fights using six scalpel-like knives for close combat. The knives themselves can extend to twelve times their length due to wires attached to them, increasing his range. Thanks to the spyrix implanted in his back, he has access to Wind-elemental spirit artes in the form of shuriken-like blades. Thanks to his Kresnik blood, Rideaux can also enter Level 2 Chromatus, in which he becomes a fearsome opponent. His mystic arte is Spike Whip.

Gallery

Artwork for Tales of Card Evolve.

Artwork for Tales of Link.

Artwork for Tales of Asteria.

Rideaux's initial design, from Tales of Xillia 2 Perfect Guide, p. 713.

Rideaux's chromatus watch, as shown in Tales of Xillia 2 Perfect Guide, p. 715. It's never seen during gameplay.

Rideaux's GHS and background, as shown in Tales of Xillia 2 Perfect Guide, p. 701. They're never seen during gameplay.

Trivia

• Rideaux's first name means "curtains" in French, while his surname, like a majority of characters and locale names in Tales of Xillia and its sequel, is taken from Slavic mythology; in his case, it is Rugiewit, a deity of a questionable interpretation.
• A very small note by the side of an illustration showing a three-sided view of Rideaux's design in Tales of Xillia 2 Perfect Guide mentions that Rideaux looks "like Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas". This likely influenced not just the design, but also some of his animations.
• Rideaux strikes the classical Chromatus transformation pose at the end of Chapter 14, but the watch is missing due to an error and shows his right hand grabbing empty air instead.
• Aspyrixis cause great pain to the user, as seen with Milla Maxwell in Tales of Xillia. Likewise, if the player complete Rideaux's job request and bring him the Mysterious Beads he's asking for, it will be revealed that they can be used for both making deadly poison and to make medicine that suppresses the side effects of aspyrixis. Though Rideaux doesn't admit it, it's obvious that he's making that medicine for himself. The description for this job request also mentions that Film Noir, the Duval location Ludger wakes up in after the Oscore train incident, is a bar that Rideaux frequently visits.
• Rideaux's whereabouts in F41DB, Victor's dimension, are unknown. Though his death in the prime dimension is caused by Bisley making him into a human sacrifice for the soul bridge, which can only be manifested after Canaan has been summoned, he's never mentioned by Victor as someone who was around during his journey, nor was he present during the negotiations that preceded the mass murders either.
• Rideaux was initially planned to be a beautician, instead of a physician.